Word of the Day for Monday, February 21, 2011
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inkhorn \INK-horn\, adjective:
inkhorn \INK-horn\, adjective:
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1. Affectedly or ostentatiously learned; pedantic.
1. Affectedly or ostentatiously learned; pedantic.
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noun:
noun:
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1. A small bottle of horn or other material formerly used for holding ink.
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Since the (now former?) Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi was a tinhorn dictator, I wonder if the B.O. could be called an inkhorn orator?
--Spy Maker, JSA's Blog
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. . .the widespread use of what were called (dismissively, by truly learned folk) "inkhorn terms."-- Simon Winchester, "Word Imperfect", The Atlantic Monthly, May 2001
. . .the widespread use of what were called (dismissively, by truly learned folk) "inkhorn terms."-- Simon Winchester, "Word Imperfect", The Atlantic Monthly, May 2001
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In prison he wrote the De Consolatione Philosophiae, his most celebrated work and one of the most translated works in history; it was translated . . . by Elizabeth I into florid, inkhorn language.-- The Oxford Companion to English Literature, s.v. "Boethius, Anicius Manlius Severinus (c. 475 - 525)."
In prison he wrote the De Consolatione Philosophiae, his most celebrated work and one of the most translated works in history; it was translated . . . by Elizabeth I into florid, inkhorn language.-- The Oxford Companion to English Literature, s.v. "Boethius, Anicius Manlius Severinus (c. 475 - 525)."
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Inkhorn derives from the name for the container formerly used (beginning in the 14th century) for holding ink, originally made from a real horn. Hence it came to refer to words that were being used by learned writers and scholars but which were unknown or rare in ordinary speech.
Inkhorn derives from the name for the container formerly used (beginning in the 14th century) for holding ink, originally made from a real horn. Hence it came to refer to words that were being used by learned writers and scholars but which were unknown or rare in ordinary speech.
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